Catalyst | Personal Development | Bridge Builder

Our Mission

Becoming a leader in our own life begins with knowing who we are and what we stand for.

We believe that the journey to self-leadership, economic and social mobility is tied to a fundamental understanding of our core values, key character traits and how we fit into the larger world we live in. We aim to help every girl identify her strengths, recognize her weaknesses and learn how to utilize her unique characteristics to find success in work and life.

Our Inspiration

In 2013, Foundation For Girls founder, Shreya Mantha, discovered the Global Girls Project — a global storytelling platform that explores the role character and core values play in the global gender conversation. Inspired by the stories and eager to learn more, Shreya reached out to Sharon Reed, co-founder of the project with her then 10 year old daughter, and shared her vision with Sharon for creating a non-profit to serve at-risk girls by nurturing the leader inside of every girl.

What initially began as a mentor-mentee relationship evolved into a collaborative partnership and friendship. Today, Sharon leads the Foundation for Girls leadership program and holds a position on the advisory board. This partnership speaks to the power of cross-generational leadership, mentorship and collaboration in helping empower, inspire, and build the next generation of leaders.

Our Program

While many traditional leadership and job readiness programs focus on developing tactical skills and behaviors that can be applied in a work environment, our program focuses on helping each girl understand who she is and what she's striving for.

Designed to complement our hands-on financial wellness classes and other workshops, our integrated ‘inside-out/outside-in’ approach equips and empowers our girls to develop practical life skills, cultivate their core values, and achieve the self-awareness needed to be successful in life and work.

Our leadership program follows a structured format that incorporates key character traits and principles of personal development in each of its sessions throughout the calendar year. We also incorporate creative content and current events into our discussions and adapt to the changing needs and demographics of our students. This approach increases engagement among our workshop participants and fosters mutual trust and respect, essential for productive learning and growth.

Our Leadership Partner

Each 90-minute class aims to:

· Provide an overview of key character traits for success, such as integrity, trust, and personal resilience

· Broaden their understanding of each key principle and learn how to apply them in their lives

For example, our two-part series on trust explores what trust means, incorporates learning activities and facilitated discussion on how to build trust with others, repair trust that’s been broken, and teaches strategies for cultivating self-trust — essential to exercising good judgment and working well with others.

Our Impact

Feedback from our workshop participants reveals that most (if not all) of the girls we teach have lived unstable lives that are rife with struggle, abuse, neglect, and abandonment. This creates both internal and external challenges that impact their ability to develop a sense of personal agency, essential for transitioning from merely surviving to truly thriving and living productive, healthy lives.

"True empowerment begins with the deep knowing you matter."

We believe in nurturing the leader in every girl and youth. As part of this commitment, we are dedicated to fostering an environment of continual learning, growth and development — inviting workshop participants to step into their own voice and leadership, participating as co-facilitators of select sessions in partnership with FFG staff and volunteers. Our experience shows that this approach increases engagement, provides participants the opportunity to apply their learning in a safe environment, grows their confidence, and provides valuable experience.

Our Leader

sharon reed

www.heartbydesign.com

Sharon is an author, advocate, speaker, entrepreneur, and change-agent for good, with a passion for helping others find their authentic voice and realize their leadership potential.

An active advocate for women and girls’ empowerment, Sharon worked as a communications consultant and Global Community Champion for the United Nations (UN) Empower Women team between 2015-2016. She served as co-architect of the award-winning social media campaign, #iamwoman, and later as project lead and co-editor of the book, Voices of Change, released at UN Headquarters during the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Sharon also serves as Chief Empowerment Officer of the Global Girls Project™, an award-winning not-for-profit storytelling platform she co-founded with her daughter in 2013 that elevates the importance of character and core values in the global gender conversation. Sharon most recently served as program facilitator for KPMG LLP-CREW Charlotte’s inaugural women’s leadership program, Becoming an Authentic Leader, modeled after the eight core principles of the ATHENA International Leadership Model.

Sharon’s work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Shriver Report, Women in Foreign Policy, and UN Women, among others.

In her spare time, Sharon enjoys writing on personal leadership development and creating inspirational art and giftware under the brand, Heart by Design™. A contributing author to three books on hope, she is also the author of Walking the Heart Path: Bite-Sized Bits of Wisdom on Living & Leading from the Inside Out, her first solo book released on March 8, 2017. She lives in Davidson, NC, with her two children, Michael and Allison.

Mindset Coach

Jeanice Sherai

Jeanice Sherai is an Author, Blogger/Vlogger, Speaker, and Certified Professional Mindset Coach.

J. Sherai’s desire is to empower women across this world to step out of the "BOX" and into FREEDOM. She currently resides in Charlotte, NC where she loves to read, write, spend time with her family and friends, and enjoy all types of outdoor activities.

J. Sherai believes in living her life out LOUD and freely! She has been rescued from the bondage of her past and she believes God has given her THIS moment to not only LIVE, but to rescue others!

Testimonials

"I appreciated the openness and willingness to share from the counselors and other youth."

"I learned how to better appreciate the opinions of others."

"I learned about how to respect myself and develop respect for others.”

"I learned how others I've never met perceive the world and how we have more in common with others than I thought."

"Today was my first day. I expected to hear positive people talk and explain things and I did. I would love to do activities related to our emotions.”

"I learned how to use healthy coping skills when it comes to hard times and how to develop self-trust."

"I learned that people can relate with my problems...that it's okay to have flaws and pain and that I am not alone."

"I appreciated seeing how many common struggles we all have. You would never know there are people going through the same things as you are until you talk about it and are willing to be vulnerable."

"I learned I need a foundation of support and self-trust before I can move forward; self-trust is really hard and complex."

"I enjoyed the way I fit in with the group and how much people were alike."

International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Thank you to our local Charlotte leaders, partners, and supporters for investing time in girls and creating opportunities for engaging in robotics, programming, and to explore possibilities with science. #criticalthinking #problemsolving #collaborating #womeninscienceday #girlsinscience

Meet Nancy Galimi one of our Financial Wellness coaches. Nancy is an entrepreneur. She is working with Diamond to help set goals and milestones and the steps to accomplish them. Diamond is a past #FFG program participant and currently a part-time workshop coordinator with us.
It does take a partnership and a community working together to provide access to oppprtunities, caring coaches and scaffolding for success.
Nancy thank you for investing time in Diamond.
#ffgcoachesclt #financialindependence #empoweringwomen